Stenciled Toddler Hoodie Tutorial

Hey Grant Life readers. It’s Michaela again from Covered in Mod Podge. Today I want to share with you a simple way to dress up a boring old hoodie. This stamping method is a quick, super easy nap time project. If you have older kiddos, they could even help out!

I love the look of toddlers in dresses styled with leggings, cardigans, and adorable headbands. However, I haven’t found this to be terribly practical. My little miss thinks that things on her head are pure evil. She is also always on the move. So, its much more likely that my little miss is running around in leggings, a t-shirt, and a hoodie.

But, there’s no reason that hoodie can’t be absolutely adorable. On a recent trip to Target I snagged a plain grey hoodie on clearance. While it fit the bill for what we needed, it was just so blah. So I decided to jazz it up using only paint and a pencil.

You read that right. All you need is fabric paint or regular old acrylic and a fabric medium {I got mine at Joann’s} and a pencil with a brand spanking new eraser. Ok, you also need an iron, a work space, and some wax paper/cardboard, too.

Start out by putting down wax paper or craft paper to protect your work space. Then, mix your paint up according to the bottle’s directions.

Make sure that you either have wax paper or cardboard between the fabric anywhere it overlaps. You don’t want your paint seeping through! I used waxed paper because it was easier to manipulate and shove into the random corners of places like the pockets.

Now, go to town with your dots.

A couple of tips. Make sure you don’t have too much paint on your eraser. It will bleed everywhere and make a funky shaped dot. Press down firmly when making your dot. You can always add a bit more paint and go over the dot a second time if you need to. This doesn’t have to be perfect. There’s a lot of character in the less than perfect dots!

I used a blow dryer on low heat to help the drying process along. This let me finish doing all the dots in one sitting.

After you finish up, you’ll want to heat set your paint. This makes it so they won’t fade in the wash. Follow the directions on your bottle. For me, I had to wait 24 hours before ironing the hoodie. The bottle also says to wash inside out.

Given that this hoodie is for my dirt loving little miss, it’s already been through the wash three times. The paint still looks good as new. I’m sure it will fade a bit with the excessive washing that a toddler demands. I think that adds character and will give the hoodie a nice vintage vibe.

This quick and easy technique can be used on a variety of items. You can also get super creative and carve different shapes into the eraser.

Hey Grant Life friends. It’s Michaela from Covered in Mod Podge back to share a fun sensory experience for your littles today.

After college, I wasn’t very sure what I wanted to do. However, I knew I was good with kids. That led me to a job working with children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Man oh man did I LOVE working with that population of kiddos! One valuable lesson I took away from my time in the field was the importance of understanding how sensory experiences effect us all differently.

Even without sensory processing issue, most of us have textures we just hate. For me, I can’t stand avocado I’m fine with it in guac, but I sure don’t want a big old slice of it on a sandwich. We learn, develop, and grow through experiencing a wide variety of sensory inputs.

Over time, many of us learn which kinds of inputs we enjoy (warm water in the form of a bubble bath) and which we want to avoid (loud noises). Its important to expose our kiddos to a wide variety of sensory inputs from an early age. You’ll quickly learn which your kids like, which they hate, and which can have calming or overstimulating effects on them. This information can be used in a variety of ways, including helping create a calm environment when you’re kiddos are overstimulated.

One of my favorite things to play with back in the day were water beads. They are round, marble sized squishy beads that are often used in centerpieces and as vase fillers. They feel wet, cold, and squishy all at the same time. They even bounce. You can get them from a variety of places on line as well as Michael’s and Joann’s. I got a big old container from Michael’s for around $5 with a 40% off coupon.

The great thing about water beads is you can use them purely for sensory input or as medium to explore other topics. I filled a large tuperware box with the entire container of water beads. I then added shapes from our shape sorter. This let us explore both the texture of the beads as well as talk about shapes.

Emma was very timid at first. She loves all things involving being wet, so I was hoping she’d get on board. With a little coaxing from Dad she dove right in. Emma played for a good thirty minutes before we had to clean up for nap time.

During the play, we talked about all the sensations she was experiencing We also talked about the different shapes and used the shapes as cups to scoop up the beads. She’s only 22 months old so our shape talk was secondary to letting her play. But you could easily adjust this activity with age to have the kiddo receptively or expressively identify the shapes.

The possibilities with water beads are really endless. You can put in different animals and have your kiddo find them and make animal noises. You could have your kiddo guess how far a water bead will bounce and then evaluate their predictions. The sky is really the limit when it comes to different ways to use these beads!

A couple of safety notes…

You should be watching your kiddos at all times when playing with water beads. These suckers can easily be mistaken for candy. They defiantly shouldn’t be eaten! Also, keep track of where the beads roll off to during play. I know our cats were pretty interested in what we were up to. I doubt they would be good for pets to eat. When you’re done playing, throw them back in the container and top it off with a little water. They last forever!

I think providing your kiddos with different sensory experiences is both fun and rewarding. There are so many creative ways to use so many different materials. We recently busted out the shaving cream. Emma was not a fan. I’d love to hear what your favorite sensory play materials are!

This site is an online consignment shoppe. But not any online consignment shoppe. This concept is different.

At Fabuless Wardrobe, you purchase an ad spot for $1.00 per item. Each item is listed for 30 days for that $1.00. If your item sells, you will be forwarded the money (via paypal) without any additional fees (well, less paypal’s original fees). The only fee you will incur is the upfront ad spot purchase! All items ship for free, so you build your shipping into your listing price.

This site is basically a place to list your gently used items (even maternity!), no more than 2 years old (preferrably..it’ll only help you sell!). You might even have stuff you’ve never worn before or even still has tags on it. So why not put it up for sale and see if you can add some cash to your pocket!

There are a few items already for sale in the shoppe, so you must head over and check it out. And if you are ready to get to listing your own items, click on the Sell Tab to get started!! You’ll tell me how many items you want to list initially, and I’ll send over an invoice and then the link to where you can start uploading your stuff!

I would love for you to follow Fabuless Wardrobe’s social media channels so you never miss a new item added to the shoppe!!Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest

Thank you Kelley (my awesome friend) for allowing me to share my brand new dream-turned-reality!! And I hope to see you all selling your items soon!!

Spring Flower Barrette Tutorial

The weather here in North Texas goes from spring to dead of winter and back again…all in the same week. I’m getting a bit sick of it. I’ve decided to embrace the spring colors and just pretend like the cold isn’t happening. Hence, these springy flower barrettes. I hope you enjoy the Spring Flower Barrette Tutorial!

Cut out your template {I used the medium petal} and trace/cut out five times using your disappearing pen.

Put a small dab of hot glue in the very center of your petal. Then, fold in half and press until the glue dries. Repeat for all of your petals.

Put a small dab of glue just to the right of center on one of your folded petals. Place a second petal overlapping and press down. My finger is where you’ll put the glue on the second petal.

Keep repeating this process until all four petals are glued down.

Fold your last petal in half again. Then, glue it into the gap in the middle of your flower.

These little spring blooms are perfect to warding away the not quite spring blues. You can’t help but smile when your little cutie is running around with these flowers in her hair! I hope you enjoyed the Spring Flower Barrette Tutorial!

Hey there Grant Life friends. It’s Michaela again from Covered in Mod Podge. I’m thrilled to be sharing with you a tutorial for my finally finish {twenty some odd months late} Boutique Baby Blanket…complete with tutorial. While this baby blanket is sure late, I am over the moon with how it turned out!

This blanket defiantly has some scary elements to it. However, with some simple tips it becomes a manageable project. I’d call it a “confident beginner with lots of pins” level project.

Want to make your own? You’ll need:

* 1 1/4 yd quilting cotton {I used Sarah Jane’s Children at Play for Michael Miller Balloons in Aqua}

* 1 1/4 yd minky {From Joann’s

* 1 yd satin fabric {Mine was $2.99/ yd at Hobby Lobby}

* Matching thread for both front and back fabric

* Sewing machine, cutting supplies, iron, and TONS of pins

Start out by squaring up your quilting cotton. Here’s a tutorial if you need help with that step. Then, cut your minky down to the same size as your quilting cotton. Minky stretches and sheds. Basically, its a beast to work with. Go slow when cutting and be prepared to have to clean your cutting surface when all is said and done.

Use a bowl to round the corners of your fabrics.

Now, its time to get busy making a whole ton of ruffles. I cut 7 strips of satin that were 4 inches by the width of the fabric {WOF}. This should work for you if your satin is 60 inches wide and you are making a 1 1/4 yd by WOF blanket.

If you’d like to do a different sized blanket, let me tell you why I cut 7 strips. I measured the perimeter of my blanket and multiplied that by 2 {because I wanted things to be very ruffly}. I then divided the doubled perimeter number by 60 and rounded up to the nearest whole number. That meant 7 strips. And we’re done with math…I promise.

Sew you satin strips together, end to end, until you have a massive length of stain. Iron your giant strip, wrong sides together, hot dog style.

Get to ruffling. If you have a ruffle foot or a favorite method for ruffling, have at it. Otherwise, check out this tip. It will make your day. Sew your choice of ruffling stitch as close to the edge of your fabric as you can. But, make sure you’re catching both layers of fabric!

Now its time to really start working with minky. I have called minky some pretty terrible names in my sewing days. I do everything I can not to work with it. However, Pinterest has been my best friend for learning to make my peace with this awful, comfy fabric. The answer? Tons and tons of pins and sewing super, duper slow! Also, you want to sew with the minky on the bottom to take advantage of the feed dogs.

Lay your minky right side up on a large, clean work surface. Smooth the living daylights out of your minky. Then, lay your quilting cotton on top, right side down. Smooth everything out.

I worked in small sections at a time to add in the ruffle and pin. Fold up a bit of your quilting cotton and lay your ruffle on top of your minky. The seam of the satin should be lined up with the edge of your fabrics. Now pin like you’ve never pinned before.

You should be pinning every inch. Seriously. I hate pinning. But this is sooo important to not want to curse out fabric as you sew.

Keep working all the way around your fabric. When you get back to your start, cut the satin down to two inches of overlap. Then, fold the raw seams in on both sides of the satin strip. Carefully stuff one side of the satin into the other and finish pinning.

At this point, you should have pinned all the way around the fabric. I’m guessing you’re a bit upset that I’ve forgot to tell you to leave a gap to turn. The need for pinning with minky is so stinking intense that I recommend pinning all the way around your blanket. Then, when you sew {with a presser foot seam allowance}, be careful to stop 6 inches from where you started sewing. And back stitch. Sew very, very slow. This will reduce the stretching and other weird things that minky will do.

Go ahead and unpin the gap and turn your blanket. Make sure your curves are all the way rounded. Press the blanket well, minky side down. Make sure you tuck in the minky and fabric at the gap in. Also, make sure the ruffle is well tucked in. Now, pin that gap like crazy.

Use a thread that blends in well with your top for your spool and a thread that blends in well with your minky in your bobbin. Top stitch as close to the edge of the blanket as you can. Again, go very slower. The minky will still try to stretch and shift.

That’s it! You have a boutique styled baby blanket for much less than the boutique price.

Want to add a personal touch? Have an embroiderer add your little love bug’s name to the top layer of your blanket after you’ve squared, cut, and rounded all your fabric but before you start sewing. I just love that little detail!

Both my husband and I still have our hand made baby blankets in our linen closets. My husband’s is really gross and mine is missing all of the beautiful hand embroidery it once had. Regardless, these blankets hold special meaning for both of us. I hope many years from now my daughter will still feel safe and loved just knowing that this blanket is somewhere in the back of her linen closet.

Easy Car Seat Canopy Tutorial

We moved from California to Texas when I was five months pregnant. We had our little miss in a strange city and away from family and friends. I was very blessed to have a couple of women bring me meals, get me out of the house, and keep me company during wonderful and hard transition into motherhood.

One of these sweet women recently had her second little boy. She asked if I could make her a car seat canopy to keep her little man warm on cold winter days. I was only too happy to oblige!

Start out by prepping your fabric. You should wash and iron your fabric before cutting, as this is something that will be good friends with the washing machine.

I like to do all of my cutting at once. Start by cutting your two pieces of fabric down to 36 X 41 inches. Cut two 8.5 X 10 inch pieces the inside fabric for straps. Cut two circles of your main fabric for the covered buttons. Follow your kits instructions to make your fabric covered buttons. Cut a 6 X 8 inch rectangle from both the main and inside fabric for the flap. Also, cut your velcro into two 3 inch strips.

Now its time to get down to business. Place your main and inside fabrics right sides together. Make sure they are the same size and lined up perfectly. Use a bowl as a template to round the corners.

Sandwich the jumbo ric rac between your fabrics, pinning the curves well. Make sure you mark a four inch gap for turning.

Sew using a 1/4 inch seam allowance.

Turn and press, pinning your gap closed. Top stitch as close to the edge as you can.

Now its strap making time. Fold the strap hot dog style with right sides together. Sew using 1/4 inch seam allowance. Make sure you leave a gap on the long edge for turning.

Carefully clip the corners and then turn and press. Top stitch as close to the edge as you can. Sew your velcro as pictured.

Then, hand sew on your button on the part of the strap that will be on top. Repeat for the second strap.

Next its time to make your flap. Place the two 6 X 8 inch rectangles right sides together. Be mindful of print directions if you have directional fabric. Sew with 1/4 inch seam allowance, leaving an inch gap for turning.

Clip corners, turn, and press. Then, top stitch as close to the edge as you can.

Ok, now its time to cut out the window. Measure 14.5 inches in and 14.5 inches up on your main fabric. This is where you’ll mark out your window. Using disappearing ink, draw a 2 X 4 inch rectangle. Then, draw a 3 X 5 inch rectangle around the small one. Draw a line connecting the corners of your big and small rectangle.

CAREFULLY cut out the small rectangle. Then, cut along the lines that connected the corners. Make sure you don’t go past your outline of the large rectangle.

Turn the edges of the small rectangle in, using the large rectangle as your guide. Press well and pin.

Now, top stitch as close to the edge as you can.

Time to add the flap to your window. Center your flap over the window, placing it 1/2 inch above the opening. Sew down only the top. Keep in mind, whatever fabric you have on the bottom of the flap will be what shows on the canopy when you’ve got the flap open to peek on your sweet little baby.

Its best to use your car seat to measure where you’d like to attach the straps. I only had access to my giant Britax, so I more or less winged it. I sewed them about 20 inches up and 12 inches in. This seemed to work well both on my giant Britax as well as the more reasonably sized Graco car seat that this little man rides in.

Really, this is a great sewing project for a beginner. Mostly, your sewing rectangles. The hardest part is sewing in the window. I promise, it isn’t hard at all!

Happy Sewing!

Like this post? Check out these other great baby related tutorials!

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Hey yall! I have my amazing friend Candy here today to share how to make the most out of your Black Friday trip! Make sure yall check out her great tips and stop by her blog and say hello!

Are you among the droves of people that go out and stay out all hours of the night to get the best deals (well atleast we hope it’s the best deals) on just hours after devouring a meal full of Thanksgiving?

If the answer is YES, then read on to learn my tips to have the best experience ever! However I must insert a *Disclaimer* Although I can offer you tips on how to have a successful Black Friday- I will not be able to control do crowd control- I wish I could be there for all of you, but I just can’t. End disclaimer- LOL

Here’s Candy’s Tips on a Successful Black Friday:

·Battle Buddy-Here’s the Army in me. LOL. Don’t go out there alone. I’m not saying it’s too dangerous- well in some cities it might be. Go with a friend. 1) It makes waiting time not as boring and 2) when you make the huge score you both can high five and be excited. I have gone out by myself before and it was not as fun. I was actually paranoid LOL- but it happened and I now prefer to always have a friend or family member with me.

What you are going to buy- This I say for the big ticket items such as TV’s, gaming systems etc. I think phones will be pretty hot this year too actually. If you know you want one of the big ticket items, there will be waiting on your part. I’m not saying go camp out at Best Buy already. A good tip I figured out a couple years ago (unless it’s posted) ask a sales associate how many of the items (that you are vying for) will have for purchase when they open their doors. I have heard of stores that will keep back stock of some items and maybe you can score that way. But it’s a huge plus to know ahead of time. I hope you have been reviewing the Black Friday ads since they started leaking them in early October!

Attire- Don’t show up in your heels and your tight jeans. It’s not a social event (well you will see just about everyone) be comfortable. Comfort is key. Layering your clothes is a great idea. I’m all about wearing jeans, good pair of tennis shoes, comfy t-shirt and a light jacket. You could possibly be waiting outside and depending on the weather in your area you may need a little more or a little less clothing.

Store information- There’s nothing worse than not knowing where things are going to be. Wal-mart has gotten really good at this, by offering patrons maps of where everything will be. Genius Idea!

Also what time does the sale start?! Some stores such as Wal-Mart that don’t close are continuously open so the line outside doesn’t form. There are marathon walkers going around and around the store waiting for the sale to begin.

Car care- Oh yes mam! You don’t want to be driving around and have your car mess up on you. Make sure you are gassed up and check your tire pressure. If you have other mechanical issues going on- go with a friend and have her/him drive!

Coupons- If you have them bring them! But first make sure that the stores will be taking them. I am in no way telling you to bring your binder of coupons, bring a few for the stores you are going to hit. Like a 20% off a (insert brand here) shirt or pair of shoes. If you are going to Target make sure you bring along your Target RedCard to get your additional 5% off your total purchase!!

Cash or Credit- Make the decision on how much you are spending before you leave. I think it’s always a good idea to get as much as you can, but don’t over spend either. Try paying cash for most of it. That way you decrease your holiday credit debt.

Carry some sustinence- Yes you might get a little hungry out there so pack a snack bar in your purse and def a bottle or two of water. Don’t worry about potty breaks after you score you things, you can run to the potty.

And last but not least:

BE NICE- Although others might not share in your sentiment there’s nothing worse or scarier than a mean person trying to elbow you in the throat to get that last $18 Pyrex 30 piece set.It’s never happened to me, but my mom had a woman steal her shopping cart at Wal-Mart one year.. that’s just crazy! And be nice to the sales associates, they are working (probably to their dismay) and it’s just a better environment if everyone is pleasant.

I hope that my tips give you something to consider before you head out after your Thanksgiving dinner. I will be out enjoying the evening with my mom. I have a feeling she’s going to make me drop her home after a couple hours- I told her we’d be staying out all night long! LOL Oh the excitement is just too much for me.

Come back and let us know what was your best Black Friday score! Good Luck, Be Safe and get your Shop On!!!

Thanks to Candy from Candypolooza for contributing this post. You can connect with Candy via her blogon Twitter @Candypo and on Facebook.

Hey yall! I have a real treat for everyone [double meaning!] – my sweet friend Jayna is going to share a delicious recipe with us today. I met Jayna at Bloggy Boot Camp and she is amazing.. seriously. Check out her recipe and stop by her blog – Behind the Studio – and say hello!

Double chocolate holiday mint cookies

If there’s one thing I love during the holidays, it’s anything chocolate mint. I’ve been known to eat an entire bag of mint chips that were really meant for baking something! This is one of my mom’s old recipe’s, only difference was, she used regular chocolate chips rather than the mint chips I used. You could swap it out for white chocolate, or peanut butter chips too – I’m sure that would be soooo good!

My mother would always make this recipe whenever my school had a bake sale and I needed to bring something. Depending on the size you make the cookies, your dough can go a long way! The other reason was because they were sooo good, there were never any leftovers.

Double chocolate holiday mint cookies

Recipe Type: Cookies

Author: Jayna Denbow

Ingredients

•8 unsweetened baker’s squares

•4 cups white sugar

•8 eggs

•1 cup vegetable oil

•4 tsp vanilla

•4 cups of flour

•4 tsp baking powder

•12oz bag of mint chocolate chips (or regular chocolate chips)

•1 tsp salt

•icing sugar

Instructions

1.Melt chocolate on top of stove using water bath to melt…not directly on heat.

2.Put it into the mixer and combine with oil and sugar.

3.Add 1 egg at a time.

4.Stir in vanilla and chocolate chips.

5.Add in dry ingredients…chill for 2 hours, roll into balls about 1″

6.Use a little melon baller to scoop them out or you can use your hands to roll into balls, then roll in the icing sugar, put on a cookie sheet and bake them at 350 degrees for 10 minutes…..yum!!

First, I melted the unsweetened baker’s squares over a pot of boiling water, so it melted nicely. Sometimes, melting in the microwave can burn your chocolate – I used to do this, but this is how I melt chocolate now.

Then, once it’s all melted, combine it with the sugar and oil and mix it up.

Add in the vanilla, and the eggs one by one. Once that’s all combined, add in the dry ingredients slowly. Chill the entire bowl in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours or overnight.

Once it’s ready the dough will be firm, and now it’s time to roll it into 1″ balls.

And then coat it in icing sugar before putting it on the cookie sheet.

Bake them at 350F for 10 minutes. Be sure to use parchment paper to bake on – my cookies always turn out perfect when I do!